Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo Review

Introduction

I have been a fan of Fujifilm’s Mini Evo instant print camera with its on-board effects, retro styling and business card-sized prints. And it seems that plenty of potential customers were equally enthused, because Fujifilm has now brought in a souped-up wide film format version in the aptly named Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo. 

Like its forbear, there are 10 lens effects and 10 film effects to choose from, in combination allowing for up to 100 potential creative looks.

There’s also the ability to save images to a removable media card, the fingernail-sized microSD. This is inserted beneath a slide flap that also has a port for hooking up a provided USB cable for charging. In effect, this is a hybrid device: a portable instant printer and digital camera in one.

While that all sounds great in theory, the caveat is that the Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo is twice the price of its Mini Evo predecessor and costs three times as much as your typical, fully analogue instant print camera.

Because of the wider print format, it’s also a bit of a brick, though in fairness, it’s because of the need to incorporate a working printer. And it must be said, no camera in the Instax range has been that svelte to begin with.

So, without further ado, let’s drill into what possibly makes the Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo a big(ger) deal than any instant print camera that’s gone before…

Design and Handling

• Selfie mirror on the front, adjacent tothe lens
• MicroSD card slot for additional storage, with up to 45 images storable via the camera’s internal memory
• 3.5-inch backplate LCD screen

Resembling the already available Fujifilm Instax Link Wide mobile printer with a lens stuck on the front and available in premium-looking black and grey, the first thing my teenage daughter asked me was, ‘does it come in any other colours?’ Not yet is the answer. 

Like prior Fuji Instax, I reckon a lot of the Instax Wide Evo’s potential audience will be coming to it with their only picture-taking experience being their smartphone. Given that, the buttons and dials, as well as the sheer heft of the device, will feel unfamiliar. The controls for calling up the various digital effects applied to the images at the point of capture are all unmarked, which proves a bit of a head-scratcher. It might help the camera’s retro aesthetic, but it makes for a less intuitive experience .

That said, the throwback retro design will potentially attract photography enthusiasts, those of us who may well have previously dismissed an instant print camera as a bit of throwaway fun. Good for the kids and social media influencers to play with, but nothing more.

What I did like about this model is its substantial feel, with its size requiring two-handed use and thumb and forefinger operation. Despite the obviously plastic build, it doesn’t look or feel cheap. Nor is it.

Interestingly, Fuji has elected to omit an eye-level optical viewfinder. That’s something I would have liked to have found on an ‘enthusiast’ Instax.

A large 3.5-inch, wide-format LCD of so-so 460K dot resolution, resembling those found on ‘my first digital camera’ from manufacturers like VTech, takes its place. The screen ratio mirrors that of the picture window on the finished print, so what you see on screen is what you get in terms of hard copy output.

Bizarrely, instead of featuring a shutter release button atop the camera or logically locating it at the upper edge of the front, its maker has instead given us an unmarked shutter lever to the right of the lens. Yes, again, this is deliberately retro and reminds me of the primitive Kodak Box Brownie-era. But it’s another unfamiliar element making the operation less immediate and less intuitive.

Likewise, unmarked and located on the left- and right-hand flanks of the camera are a couple of scroll wheels. Again, their purpose isn’t immediately obvious, as turning them on when in menu mode does not scroll through available options as one might expect. Both, it transpires, provide shortcuts to more digital effects. 

The left-hand dial, if using the screen at the back, gives access to what Fuji calls lens effects. While there is a default ‘normal’ setting, other options include smartphone camera-like effects such as light leak and vignetting, plus soft glow, double exposure, lens flare and more. There are 10 in total. 

The same amount of film-inspired effects is alternatively accessible via the right-hand dial. Rather than simply transferring the renowned Film Simulation modes from Fuji’s more grown-up ‘X’ Series digital cameras, the more basic options here include a saturation-boosted ‘vivid’ look, alongside magenta, sepia and monochrome.

It’s worth noting that all these filters are applied to the image at the point of capture; they can’t be applied retrospectively to an image.

I am used to most instant print cameras being simple pick-up-and-shoot affairs, whereas use of the Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo benefits from a period of familiarisation, trial and error and experimentation.

Fuji obviously wants its operation to feel deliberately quirky. That said, for the premium price being asked, I was expecting a user experience different to a basic point-and-shoot.

At least the features its maker has included here should prevent boredom and, if you do enjoy its eccentric elements, should ensure this camera will continue to be used for years to come.

Features

• Built-in lithium-ion battery promising up to 100 prints from a full charge
• 1/3-inch CMOS sensor, giving a maximum recorded image size of 4608×3456 pixels
• Print crank/lever at the side of the unit reminiscent of a film re-winder on old school film cameras

Interest in its Instax range saved Fujifilm as a company in the 2000s. In this decade, it has had unexpected success with enthusiast-targeted, retro-styled digital compacts, including its X100V and X100 VI. So, it makes some kind of sense that the Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo at first glance appears to combine the two; it’s a Fuji ‘greatest hits’ if you like, or as its maker would have it, an analogue-style digital experience.

Though it’s not obvious at first – again, it’s unmarked and closely resembles a shutter release – as an addition to the scroll wheels to the sides, the single button atop the camera is the way to access the six built-in film modes.

These are yet more digital filters that this time around ape film processing, with one even attractively adding familiar film lugs, used to engage the camera’s sprockets in the past, top and bottom of the frame. It’s both a nod to Fuji’s heritage and being exactly what a modern audience will expect, with most having access to similar visual effects on our smart devices.

With the camera equipped with a 16mm wide angle lens, the widest possible shots are achievable by flicking a lens-adjacent switch on the front marked ‘wideangle’. With this option selected, the closer to a subject the more pronounced a fisheye-type effect is, with the closest focus distance a respectable 10cm. Alternatively, this setting can be turned off, and a cropped 2560×1920 pixel image will be taken instead of the maximum 4608×3456.

Although this camera is all about producing the widest format prints Fujifilm currently offers, a maximum of 45 digital images at around 1MB each can be saved to the camera’s internal memory. Or this can be expanded by inserting an optional microSD memory card into the vacant slot at one side, adjacent to a USB port via which the internal battery is charged.

A familiar selfie mirror is located top right of the lens at the front, and there’s also an identically sized window for the built-in flash positioned directly above it.

At the base of the unit, over to one side rather than dead centre, there’s a screw thread allowing the camera to be tripod-mounted. This will come in handy for those group portraits where the photographer also wants to feature in the shot.

Image Quality

• 318 dpi (dots per inch) resolution prints
• 10 lens effects and 10 film effects, as found on the Instax Mini Evo. The intensity of effects applied can be tweaked
• Six additional film styles: normal, cinematic, classic film strip, date/time stamp, contact sheet & vintage effect

It goes without saying that the packs of film sheets required to generate prints need to be purchased separately. But the beauty here is that if you run out of instant film, you can still capture the image and print it out later. This is a preferable option compared to cheaper, fully analogue Instax cameras, where, if you run out of sheets, you run out of shots.

As with earlier models, there’s the further ability here to use the Instax Wide Evo as a portable printer for images taken on a phone. This requires a free dedicated Instax Wide Evo app, with direct access to a QR code helpfully printed on the box the camera arrives in.

Of course, the great advantage of having a hybrid digital camera and printer is the ability to use the screen on the back to review the shots before deciding whether you like an image enough to print it. How often have we all taken a snap with a fully analogue Instax and been disappointed because our framing was off, the flash was too bright, or somebody had their eyes shut? 

This way, wastage is cut and money is saved. But there will naturally be those who feel a bit of magic is lost in the process. The image only being revealed as it slowly ‘develops’ still makes for a memorable bit of theatre. And as long as you don’t expect the images from the Fujifilm Instax Wide Evo to resemble the quality of 35mm film prints, or even those from a dedicated point-and-shoot digital camera, then you’ll be satisfied with the results.

It may outwardly look like a more ‘serious’ camera, but the accent here is still firmly on fun.

Should you buy it?